How could John the Baptist be filled with the HS without baptism?

[klaubacher]

Luke 1:15b says John the B. was filled with the HS before he was born. How would he have the HS without Baptism? I know Mary did because she was CONCEIVED by the HS, but John was conceived through his parents. Thank you!

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Mary was not conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary was conceived in the same manner as John the Baptist and every other human person are conceived, by her parents. God simply preserved her soul from original sin from the moment of its existence.

John the Baptist can be filled with the Holy Spirit simply because God chose to do so. Throughout salvation history God makes exception to the norm for certain individuals (i.e. Enoch and Elijah were taken up before dying). When the Holy Spirit came upon John the Baptist original sin was removed in the same way that when we are baptized original sin is removed from our souls. John simply received such grace by a special and exceptional gift from God.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant" — filled, like the mother, with the Holy Ghost — “leaped for joy in her womb”, as if to acknowledge the presence of his Lord. Then was accomplished the prophetic utterance of the angel that the child should “be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb”. Now as the presence of any sin whatever is incompatible with the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the soul, it follows that at this moment John was cleansed from the stain of original sin.